


No risk too great, no distance too far

by sd1970x



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: Boys can't be princesses, F/F, F/M, Iris says trans rights are human rights, Mildly modified S2 ending, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Quests, Romance, Seven is the magic number
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29903973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sd1970x/pseuds/sd1970x
Summary: In an alternate ending to S2, The celebrations of victory against Gramorr are short-lived as a new threat, more dangerous than ever, makes its appearance.Iris must go back to earth and hope her friends manage to help gather seven princesses from the additional realms of Ephedia, before time runs out.Or does she? Now that the crown is complete, might earth still hold surprises for her?
Relationships: Auriana/Mephisto (LoliRock), Iris & Mephisto, Iris/Nathaniel (LoliRock), Jodan/Talia (LoliRock), OC/?
Kudos: 1





	1. Iris' diary

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read 'Project Gecko' you may have a good guess as to what to expect. Either way, I hope you enjoy this.

_ Dear Diary. _

_ After a savage battle, Gramorr has been defeated. I was this close to losing, but then… _

The ground rumbled at the temple of Andrak, matching the dark cloudy sky. Sounds of crystal shields shattering, rocks crumbling into dust, the whistle of crystal projectiles being lobbed at each side and a heavy sandy feel to each breath.

Finally, someone did something that broke the stalemate.

“Mephisto, what are you doing?” Praxina screamed as her brother lunged forwards, aiming a crystal attack at Gramorr. 

“What I should have done all along. Go down and take Gramorr with me! Telanoc!”

Gramorr had to take off his attention off the princesses for a split second. A split second that proved crucial. Iris’s crystal ray overpowered Gramorr’s and hit both him and Mephisto, causing Grammor’s mask to be knocked out and both of them to fall down from the cliff at the temple of Andrak. Gramorr’s crystal spell amplifier fell together with them and exploded violently.

“No!” Praxina cried as she flew downwards in search of them both.

_ So, Praxina escaped and managed to gather a lot of Gramorr’s power for herself, including his mask! She has carved for herself a part of Ephedia’s core and most of Gramorr’s minions swore allegiance to her. _

A devastated Praxina landed in the midst of a forest clearing and cried as she failed to find her brother. It was then when a howl interrupted her. Expecting an attack, she noticed instead was Banes, slowly approaching her in a non-offensive way, an object in its mouth.

“Gramorr’s mask! I see I have a new destiny, then!”

_ On the bright side of things, Mephisto survived too. And the bright side it is, because... _

Iris and the rest of the princesses just got back to the palace to celebrate Gramorr’s defeat. The cheers of joy mixed with glass toasts and hurrays, when all of a sudden a crystal slowly came out of the ground, a human figure inside it. Just as we tried to see who was it, it shattered, revealing...

“Mephisto! You’re alive!”

Mephisto brushed the crystal dust off his clothes and rose up. “Yeah. Well, that was one heck of a ride.”

He pulled a small object from his pocket, which looked like a small white pebble. “I guess I have that to thank for.”

“It’s a life-save crystal!” Talia cried with surprise, “at least, a spent one… how did you get it?”

“After Iris and I destroyed that black crystal dinosaur, Iris got an oracle gem... and I got this thing. I had no idea what it was, I just kept it in my pocket.”

He then looked around at all the people of Ephedia surrounding him. “I guess I’m going to jail now though, aren’t I?”

“My mom, the queen of Ephedia, just announced that everyone who committed crimes under Gramorr’s compulsion would be free.” Iris replied.

“Really?”

“Yep. Total pardon. Full clemency. Absolution of crimes. Forgiveness instead of vengeance. But only if they agree to fix their wrongdoings.”

“Oh! Well…” He seemed a touch more timid than his usual, “Do… Do I qualify?”

“I saw you sacrificing yourself against Gramorr. That has to be taken into account.”

“Worst boss I had to work for. He definitely had it coming.” He smiled for a moment.

“But… you also tried to annihilate me more than I could count. That’s something you need to fix.”

And with that his smile was wiped off.

“Yeah, sorry for that, requirements of the job… but how would I fix that?” he scratched his head.

“See, I happen to need a captain for my royal guard. Your duty would be to do the exact opposite of what you tried to do. Poetic justice, isn’t it?”

“Royal guard? The fiercest person I know?” He chuckled, “I’m not so sure you need one.”

He paused for a moment. “I’ll… I’ll have to think about it.”

“I do remember someone saying they’d be honored to serve under me as the queen of Ephedia...” She taunted him, smiling.

“Hey, I thought we agreed to never mention that moment again!” He tried to protest, yet couldn’t help but return her smile.

“So, will you take the job? please?”

“Fine, you win. Just like you always do. I’ll take the job, Iri- I mean, my princess.”

“So, serving under Iris, huh.” He mused to himself, “I think I can get used to that.”

_ With my trusty friends and Mephisto as a newly appointed captain of the guard, we went about restoring the palace and restoring happiness in the realm. Gramorr’s minions were still out there and the people of Ephedia needed us. _

_ For almost a month, everything was going just perfect! _

_ … Up until the moment it wasn’t. _

_ The first of the bad news was a report of a supposed meteorite that hit the realm. We went out to investigate. _

The landing site was a heavily forested area beneath a cliff, not too far from the border of Volta.

Iris, Talia and Auriana cautiously approached the meteorite. Black and violet crystals were spread around the impact area. Upon closer examination, it was pretty clear this thing was no meteorite at all, it was more of an egg of sorts. A dark, magical, ominous egg, now broken.

“I am not sure I want to see what hatched out of this one.” Auriana commented. “Must be something really nasty.”

“Auriana, look out!” Iris cried, as a black crystal cat-like beast, reminiscent of banes, jumped right at her.

“Crystal retrosum!'' Both Iris and Talia called almost immediately, blocking it for a mere moment before a head butt made both barriers collapse into crystal fragments.

“It’s really nasty indeed!” Talia cried.

“Crystal offensio!” Auriana called and a hail of crystals bombarded the creature, bouncing against its armor harmlessly, drawing a gasp of surprise from Auriana. A quick pounce and both princesses had to duck away for cover.

“Augh! Ribbon of Volta!” Auriana called as she summoned her favorite weapon.

“Wand of Xeris! Crystemsabrus!” Talia did the same as she summoned her own weapon of choice.

Auriana grabbed the beast’s leg with a quick whip shot but as she soon found out, its muscles were far too strong to be contained by it and it swung her far away. Talia’s attack was blocked by its claws and she quickly had to switch from offense to defense as she parried its swings. In a moment she retreated by backflipping into safety.

The beast snarled at Iris and made it clear she was his next target.

“Iris, look out!”

The creature breathed out A volley of sharp black crystals, all flying at high speed towards Iris.

“Crystarmum!”

The crystals pierced Auriana’s shield with troubling ease, but luckily Iris managed to dodge them at the last moment. Iris grit her teeth.

“This ends here and now.” Iris called. “Crystal leos!”

A stream of crystal energy burst from her magic circle, enveloping the beast. It howled in pain, but it could not withstand the energy of a powerful spell for too long. In a few moments, it dissipated into harmless fragments.

“These things are very bad news,” Iris sighed. “It will take a whole lot to deal with them.”

_ Soon enough, another one of these hit the realm, then another. In a few days, our hands were full at trying to suppress the onslaught of black crystal monsters, starting to plague Ephedia again.  _

_ We knew too little about these creatures. We didn’t know where they came from, who sent them and why it had to happen now. When Morgaine made her appearance to explain all that was going on, we learned the disastrous truth. _

It was a relatively quiet evening at the royal palace when Iris’s necklace started to pulsate. It was not someone in need this time. It was something else. Talia and Auriana quickly came over.

“Iris, what is the matter?” Auriana asked

“I feel as if Morgaine is trying to contact us.”

They all joined hands as they chanted. “Crystal precatus!” they all called, but nothing happened.

“Could my necklace have been wrong?” Iris asked, holding it up and looking at it.

“It’s been less than a year since we contacted her, certainly not ten.” Talia noted the well-known fact.

And yet, in a few moments, a multicolored spell circle formed, as if on its own, and out of it, a familiar figure emerged.

“Morgaine!” They all called in unison, surprised that the magic kicked in so long after the incantation.

“Iris, there is no time to spare.” Morgaine turned towards her. “I bring bad news with me about the nature of those supposed meteorites.” 

Iris nodded, listening with intent.

“Iris, these are called “the harbingers of Asmodeus”. In but a few weeks, Asmodeus itself will manifest.”

“Asmodeus? What is Asmodeus?” She asked.

“Asmodeus is an abomination, a devourer of worlds. Asmodeus’s hellish power dwarfs that of Gramorr and it is undefeatable. If it manages to step on Ephedia’s ground, Ephedia will become eternally its domain.”

“Oh… oh no…” Iris whispered. “Can we stop it somehow?”

“I can teach you a banishment spell that will stop its arrival for the next 100 years, but it will not be easy to cast. You will need my blessing and the combined work of no less than seven princesses, each from a different magical nexus and bearing their royal relic, to cast the spell at the site of the temple of Andrak.”

Iris clenched her fist. “I’ll get right to it!” she called.

“Wait, there’s more. You are no longer safe here. You must return to earth where Asmodeus’s magic won’t locate you and return only when you are ready.”

Iris let go of her fist as she realized what that had meant. She’d have to watch from afar and put her trust in her friends.

_ And that was it. Talia and Auriana went back with me. Mephisto stayed behind helping to protect the realm and fight off the dark crystal beasts. We were left with the task of making plans for finding two more princesses, somehow. _

“We need to find two more princesses… in a few weeks!” Auriana ranted. “Just finding Iris took almost a year.”

“That’s right, but Iris was well hidden here on earth. This time, we know exactly what we’re looking for, and where.” Talia noted as she pointed towards Ephedia’s map.

“So, we have princesses from Ephedia, Xeris, Volta, Calix and Borealis with us.”

Iris studied the map carefully. Ephedia was right there in the middle, painted in pink. Next to it were Xeris in blue, Volta in orange, Calix in purple and Borealis in green, an island not too far away. Talia continued.

“Morgaine’s words suggest that the magic in the far realms is insufficient for our needs, as they don’t have a nexus of magic of their own. We will send our scouts over there as well, just in case.”

Iris looked at the map again. The lands of Volantis and Amadon were quite far from Ephedia’s core. From Talia’s previous lessons she recalled fewer people wanted to live there due to the lower magical potential of these areas, making it harder to protect villages and towns there.

“So that leaves us with Ferruxia, Tamaris and Livoria. Lyna will lead the squad to Ferruxia, Carissa will lead the one to Tamaris and Jodan will lead the one to Livoria.”

Iris examined the paths Talia charted on the map.

Ferruxia was a northern kingdom, colored in rust brown and neighbouring Volta. The path there seemed short enough, but she knew the roads must cross through the northern mountainous region.

The lime-green southern kingdom of Tamaris was rather large, so despite its border being close by, it would be a while until Carissa could reach its capital. Iris hoped her journey would be somewhat uneventful, even if a bit long.

The one to worry about was the silvery southern kingdom of Livoria. The shortest road there passed by Praxina’s newly-claimed territory.

“I really hope Jodan won’t have too much trouble getting there. If only I could help! But I’m stuck here when I feel like I need to be there.”

“The leader’s dilemma. ‘Should I lead my people at the front or do they need me back at the command post.’.” Talia smiled, then got serious back again.

“It’s vital that you remain here. You’re the one who should be casting the spell to banish Asmodeus. You need to practice your skills.”

Iris sighed.

“On one hand, I am so happy to be back and I can’t wait for Nathaniel to get back from his vacation… but It’s so hard to see this happening on a map without being there for my people.”

“Hey, cheer up!” Auriana said, “I kinda like it here. Maybe earth still has some surprises for you, Iris. We did find one princess here, after all.”

“I wouldn’t bet on a princess appearing on earth out of nowhere all of a sudden,” she replied, the mere thought drawing a short laugh out of her, “As if that could happen.”


	2. A bet gladly lost

“Crystal Altruso!” Iris called, as the magic circle beneath her expanded, only to fizzle a moment later. Iris sagged, panting heavily, hands placed on her knees.

"I just can’t do this training anymore,” she said after a short pause, “It’s been hours now.”

She looked around their pocket-dimension training arena for Talia and Auriana.

“You’ve done very well, I think that’s enough for the day.” Talia said.

“How about a smoothie break?” Auriana offered.

“Well, it’s not as attractive without Nathaniel there… but still my go-to place I guess.”

The girls readied themselves and bid aunt Ellen farewell as they walked towards the smoothie bar.

“Nothing like a good breath of air after a training session.” Iris looked about as she took in a good breath, making it more than just a facetious statement.

It was a sunny day at Sunny Bay, the weather was just fine and not too hot. Iris had a good feeling about it. A few minutes of idle chatter and looking at the happy people around them did quite a bit to freshen her up.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she entered the smoothie bar’s door, even if her mind knew that Nathaniel wouldn’t be there.

_ It’s been too long since I’ve last been here and definitely too long since I’ve seen Nathaniel. Why couldn’t he come back already? _

“Oh, hey there girls!” Mr Alan called them. “Glad to have you back. Without you and Nathaniel here, it’s almost as if I don’t know anybody.”

“Hey, Felix!” he called toward the guy tending to the bar “That’s Lolirock over there. Their favorites are taped to the counter!”

He turned back towards the girls. “I’m sorry, he’s new in town, still learning the ropes and all.”

“That’s okay. Some anonymity is good at times.” Iris giggled.

The girls sat down at their regular spot, patiently waiting for their serving and chatting about.

“Lolirock needs to come out of its summer break, too!” Iris exclaimed. “Now that we’re back in here, we can’t afford to miss it.”

“Don’t you think that’s too hard, trying to do both?” Auriana ventured.

“I think that when you mix the two, it’s a bit easier on the mind.” Talia answered. “I’m all in for a few gigs here and there.”

It was then when they noticed it’s been some time since Mr Alan instructed that new boy to prepare their smoothies. A quick look at the counter showed he was still toiling, just very carefully.

“It’s taking him long enough, Nathaniel could do it so much quicker.” Talia noted, a slight impatience to her.

“I’m really thirsty!” Auriana commented too. As impolite as it was, Iris declined to comment as she was growing thirsty as well.

He finally came over with their drinks.

“Okay, I really can’t screw this one up, I hope I got it right. So, this one's for you Iris, this one for Amar-”

Amaru gleefully picked his kibble smoothie and drank it through in a few seconds and everyone laughed.

“At least one customer is happy,” he noted with relief, then served the other two smoothies just as he did his best to inconspicuously hum the tune of “Revolution”.

“Oh, so you do know of us!” Iris let out a short laugh. “So much for anonymity.”

“Yeah,” He admitted sheepishly, “I’m new around but a big fan already. Go girl power!”

“Then maybe you can treat us to the smoothies?” Auriana asked as the guy went slightly red.

“Auriana!” Talia chided her.

“I had to try…” she held a smug smile, closed her eyes and leaned back, sipping her smoothie.

“Can I get you anything else, girls?”

Suddenly, Iris’ necklace began pulsating.

“No, no, it’s just fine…” Iris quickly hid her necklace between her arms. “Actually, I think I could use a short stroll. I’ve been stuck in the rehearsal room for so long! Goodbye, uh, Francis!” she backed away to the street.

“Yeah, um, goodbye!” he waved as all three girls left.

\---

“Well then, let’s go and find out who needs our help.”

The girls cautiously walked towards the park as the necklace guided them. It wasn’t long before they encountered crystalized people all around. Some of them inside familiar black-streaked red ones, the others encased in less familiar black-streaked dark blue ones.

“That’s Praxina’s work!” Iris cried. “Why on earth does she have to ruin my day?”

“But the others are someone else’s work…” Auriana motioned towards one of the dark blue ones. Talia came close to examining one of these.

“They remind me of yours when you were under the twins’ control.” Auriana noted.

“I have a very bad feeling about this.” Talia replied

“As you should!” A familiar voice cried. “Ateruina!”

The girls all dodged Praxina’s volley. A quick look revealed she was now wearing Gramorr’s mask, looking fiercer than ever. Her mocking, evil laugh hasn’t changed one bit.

\---

“Praxina, stop! Why are you doing this?” Iris tried to dissuade her.

“Isn’t it clear? A successor to Gramorr is coming to Ephedia. They’d be so happy when I bring them a princess as a gift.”

Praxina shot another volley of crystals at the girls. “Crystal retrosum!” Iris called, blocking the volley harmlessly.

“Praxina, Mephisto is on our side too. You don’t have to do this. You can help us defend Ephedia.”

“I respect my brother’s choice. He’ll realize his mistake sooner or later. But in the meanwhile, I have found myself a better partner.”

A dark robed hooded figure approached, levitating next to her, blue lighting shaped streaks to their black cloak.

“Dragenti!” Talia cried with surprise and notable revulsion.

“You know him?” Auriana asked.

“A Xerian who turned to the dark side, even Gramorr imprisoned him for being too unreliable and reckless. Looks like Praxina thinks she can employ him.”

“Explodium” he called, and three large shards of mixed black and dark blue flew towards them.

“Crystermum!” Auriana called as both the shield and the projectiles cracked into fragments.

“The time for games is over.” Iris said.

“Talia, princess of Xeris!”

“Auriana, princess of Volta!”

“Iris, princess of Ephedia!”

“Amaru, the Arena!” Iris called and Amaru gladly complied, jumping up in the air and clasping his hands. In a few seconds, they all found themselves in the battle arena.

\---

“Crystal offensio!” Both Iris and Auriana called, shooting a volley of crystals towards Dragenti and Praxina, neither of them scoring any hits.

“Ruca majoris” Dragenti called, as three large dark blue crystals shot from above him, all flying towards Talia.

Talia grit her teeth as she dodged his dark blue crystals.

“He has corrupted Xerian spells! This is unforgivable!” she snarled. “You are a shame to your heritage! Wand of Xeris!”

Talia summoned her weapon, then empowered it further. “Crystemsabrus!”

She then rushed forwards towards Dragenti, trying to land a strike, only for a large crystal shield to deflect her and throw her off balance.

“Talia, be careful! Don’t let him get to you!” Iris tried, but knew Talia had too much of a personal stake in this for her words to reach her.

“Aterudere!” both Praxina and Dragenti called together, combining their power for an attack. A gigantic crystal rose from the ground and the girls were flung aside, finding themselves on the ground.

“Had enough yet?” Praxina laughed maniacally as she launched yet another volley of crystals, Auriana barely raising her hand to shield against it in time.

Talia got up and once again tried a charge and a swipe against Dragenti, but this time he was more than ready for her. A quick dodge followed by a very well placed crystal trap to trip her, Talia found herself lying flat on the ground, not too far from him. She barely managed to rise up before he cast his spell.

“Morbullo” Dragenti called, and in a short moment, Talia was almost fully encased in a dark blue crystal.

“Oh no!” both Iris and Auriana cried.

“Oh yes!” Praxina mocked them.

“It’s up to us now,” Iris and Auriana nodded towards each other as they tried circling the two. Praxina just laughed yet again. “Oldest trick in the book… how about a new one, instead?”

Sharp crystal spikes rose up from the ground, blocking the path for Iris and Auriana. With nowhere else to go, both of them found themselves right next to Talia again but way too close to Praxina.

“Telanoc!” Both Praxina and Dragenti called together as Iris and Auriana tried jumping into safety but the rising crystals were too quick to evade and within seconds, they found themselves captured right next to Talia.

Praxina and Dragenti landed nearby and slowly walked towards the girls, making the whole scene a demonstration of victory.

“Seems like you’re no match for our combined might, now that I have the mask.” Praxina laughed.

Dragenti eyed Talia from behind his hood, rubbing his hands with considerable satisfaction.

“So, any final words before I send you all to be my prisoners in Ephedia?”

\---

“Crystal Sedoccio” An unrecognized female voice called.

“Huh?” Praxina asked. “Who said that?”

The crystal fragments and remains from the battle rose up in the air, soon joined by a slew of other new ones. A moment later and the fragments started flying around in all directions, creating an otherwise harmless blizzard of shards, yet one that totally obscured the view and movement. Iris was surprised to realize that the blizzard somehow magically skipped a small area around them, leaving them free to breathe normally.

Praxina was not so lucky, however.

“Augh, get this thing off me!” she cried and waved her hands, to little avail. Her partner was in no position to help her, suffering from the exact same effect. Both tried to jump upwards to avoid the maelstrom, but found out they couldn’t fly well under those conditions.

“Now what?” Iris asked her friends.

“Crystal Enlathar” the same voice called from inside the maelstrom behind them and the crystals holding them captive dissipated. A quick look backward showed an indiscernible human figure amidst the crystal shards.

“Thank you!” Iris called. There was no answer.

“How can we see anything through this maelstrom?” Auriana asked.

“Crystal Exerio.”

The same voice again, now coming further from their right. 

At this exact moment, all fragments became transparent to them. A quick look to their right showed their benefactor - a girl roughly their age wearing a pale cerulean princess dress, now armed with a bow.

Two arrow shots hit Dragenti, crystallizing in pale cerulean upon impact. He soon came crashing to the ground, unable to fly with the weight of the additional crystals to his body. In tandem, A joint crystal offensio by Talia and Auriana took down Praxina as well.

“Xeris! Volta! Ephedia! Crystal Luxtra!” The combined circle of the princesses cast the spell as both Dragenti and Praxina found themselves cast back into Ephedia.

\---

With Praxina and Dragenti gone, the girls turned their attention towards the newcomer, but she already moved away and was now located too far on one of the platforms.

“Who are you?” Iris called towards her.

But it was too late, a brief moment passed and she was already gone.

“I think I should have made that bet with you.” Auriana laughed and Iris nodded.

“It’s one bet I would have gladly lost.”

Talia picked up a shard of crystal left during the fight and examined it.

“I don’t know of any Ephedian kingdom using pale cerulean crystals. She doesn’t even seem to use the same spells as we do.”

“Oh?”

“Didn’t you notice? she didn’t use ‘Crystal Solvenda’ to melt our crystals.”

“That’s intriguing… but so disappointing.” Auriana frowned. “Is she even really a princess?”

“Is she even Ephedian?” Talia added.

Before the arena shut down, they went to examine the platform she was last on, as something caught Iris’ attention.

“Hey, look!” Iris pointed towards a note lying on the ground. “That must be hers! She must have lost it!”

Iris picked the note up and read its contents aloud.

_ Proud of your quick thinking. Will write more when I can. Jayme. _

“That doesn’t seem to answer much.” Auriana jested

“Let’s go and find her and get our answers then!” Iris said and they all nodded in agreement.


End file.
